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List of Rutanian Labor Party Leadership Contests
Below is a historical index of the Labor Party of Rutania's leadership elections and party congresses. 3699 Congress The Labor Party met between August 18, 3699 and August 21, 3699 to select a new leader and deputy leader following the resignations of Graeme Heijns Storr and James Milburn. In order to contest a leadership position, a candidate needed to present a manifesto before the convention and win the approval of at least 10% of the delegates. Following this vote, the remaining candidates were ranked by the delegates until a new leadership team could be selected. Deputy Leader James Milburn surprised pundits by not contesting the leadership. Many were also surprised that Ministers Jan Hope and Nanci Mears decided not to run. Ultimately, Party Whip Luke Crews, Party Vice President Patrick Turcotte, Foreign Affairs spokesman Rita Crick, Environment and Tourism Minister Joyce Stahl, and Kragusrov Chairwoman Alicia Bowling stood for the leadership. Education and Culture spokesman Annabelle Loch, Ardinia Chairwoman Brianna Grainger, Khodor Chairwoman Yvonne Sandals, and Bozarland Chairman Zachary Killebrew ran for the Deputy Leadership. Rita Crick was the instant frontrunner for the leadership, having secured the endorsements of Graeme Storr and James Milburn while also teaming up with Patrick Urquhart, Rebecca Lennon, Eamon McAullife-Ennis, and Zachary Killebrew. Patrick Turcotte and Joyce Stahl were considered second tier candidates. Turcotte had the support of Jan Hope and Yvonne Sandals while Stahl was backed by Nanci Mears and Annabelle Loch. Luke Crews was considered a dark horse candidate and was supported by Brianna Grainger. Alicia Bowling had little support from within the party and most speculated that she entered the race to secure a larger portfolio in the new leader’s front bench. The deputy leadership was essentially an equal race between the four candidates. Grainger was backed by Crews, Urquhart, and Lennon. Sandals was supported by Crick, Hope, and Mears. Killebrew was endorsed by Turcotte, McAullife-Ennis, and Stahl. Although Loch trailed in major endorsements, she was supported by Milburn and Eves. Graeme Storr’s decision to intervene in the party’s first leadership contest was highly controversial and some believe that it could possibly harm Crick’s candidacy. However, the announcement of the manifesto results indicated just the opposite. Crick won just below 40% while Joyce Stahl emerged as her main challenger. Patrick Turcotte did well enough to stay in the race but acknowledged that his campaign needed to reach out to delegates who would possibly put him as their second choice. Luke Crews performed poorly but decided to stay on the ballot and Alicia Bowling failed to receive the necessary 10% to get onto the ballot. As she addressed delegates, she urged voters to reject Crews and support Crick. They did just that and Crews was the first candidate to be removed from the preferential ballot. While he did not issue a public endorsement, it was believed that an overwhelming majority of his supporters would move to Turcotte. The second ballot saw massive movement to Turcotte and he surpassed Stahl to face Crick on the final ballot. Stahl did not endorse either candidate but Crick’s election became a foregone conclusion when it became obvious that she would need only 20% of Stahl’s votes to win. On the third ballot, Crick defeated Turcotte 60%-40%. The race for the deputy leadership was so wide open that many believed it was possible that each candidate would garner roughly a quarter of the vote and that the first candidate to be defeated, would lose by just a few votes. Brianna Grainger topped the manifesto, followed by Killebrew and Sandals. Annabelle Loch won 17% of the vote and was no longer considered a viable candidate. Despite this, she wowed the convention and saw her supported surge on the first ballot. Her gains came at the expense of Grainger, but she was still the first candidate to be removed from the ballot. The first ballot saw significant differences from the manifesto approval. Killebrew topped the vote followed by Sandals. Grainger slumped to third place while Loch was eliminated. Loch privately supported Sandals on the second ballot. Because of this support, Sandals was able to rank first on the second ballot. While Grainger saw her support rise by a decent margin, she was unable to pass Killebrew. Grainger did not endorse either candidate and Sandals narrowly defeated Killebrew. 3703 Congress The Labor Party met between January 11, 3703 and January 14, 3703 to select a new leader and deputy leader following the resignations of Rita Crick and Yvonne Sandals. In order to contest a leadership position, a candidate needed to present a manifesto before the convention and win the approval of at least 15% of the delegates. Following this vote, the remaining candidates were ranked by the delegates until a new leadership team could be selected. The 3701 elections were expected to catapult the Labor Party back into the center of Rutanian politics. Rita Crick, the party’s leader, had openly campaigned on winning 70 seats in Parliament. Shockingly, the party lost support and three seats in Parliament. Consequently, Crick was forced to resign. Party President Rebecca Lennon and Deputy Leader Yvonne Sandals were expected to be the major players in the race to replace Crick. However, Zachary Killebrew, the party’s Vice President, surprisingly launched a bid and Patrick Turcotte, the Justice critic, announced his candidacy hours before the deadline. Turcotte failed to receive major endorsements because of his last minute entry and many speculated that he would fail to see his manifesto garner the 15% necessary to go to the party ballot. Rebecca Lennon, the perceived frontrunner, saw her campaign managed by Jim Eves, the Infrastructure and Transport critic, and Luke Crews, the Education and Culture critic. Killebrew received Rita Crick’s endorsement and that of much of the senior leadership, including Party Whip Patrick Urquhart. He also surrounded himself with Eamon McAullife-Ennis, the Defence critic, Brianna Grainger, the Food and Agriculture critic, and Alicia Bowling, the Trade and Industry critic. Yvonne Sandals was supported by former leader Graeme Storr, Finance Minister Jan Hope, and Health Minister Nanci Mears. Pundits predicted that the manifesto announcement would see Turcotte eliminated with Killebrew holding a strong lead over Sandals while Lennon performing only marginally better than Turcotte. As expected, Turcotte was defeated and Lennon underperformed significantly. Killebrew was just short of an absolute majority. Lennon failed to garner the 15% minimum and was dropped from the ballot. She and Turcotte both endorsed Sandals. Momentum shifted strongly in her favor, and Yvonne Sandals defeated Zachary Killebrew by a 57-43 margin. In the deputy leadership contest, Party Whip Patrick Urquhart was expected to obtain the position with relative ease. However, Eve McGinn, a critic under Storr, challenged him. McGinn had lost her seat in 3697 and returned to Parliament in 3701. McGinn was supported by Yvonne Sandals, Hope, Turcotte, Eves, Mears, and Grainger. Urquhart was backed by Storr, McAullife-Ennis, Crews, and Annabelle Loch. Much of the senior leadership opted not to issue an endorsement in the deputy leadership contest. During the presentation of her manifesto, McGinn was praised for appealing to both the conservative and progressive wings of the party. Urquhart struggled with his manifesto and was expected to see his proposals overwhelmingly defeated. McGinn’s manifesto was approved by a larger margin than expected and her victory was essentially guaranteed. She secured the deputy leadership by a 61-39 margin. 3708 Congress The Labor Party met between July 9, 3708 and July 12, 3708 to select a new leader and deputy leader following the resignations of Yvonne Sandals and Eve McGinn. In order to contest a leadership position, a candidate needed to present a manifesto before the convention and win the approval of at least 10% of the delegates. The threshold was amended following the 3703 Congress. Following this vote, the remaining candidates were ranked by the delegates until a new leadership team could be selected. The 3705 elections proved to be a massive success for the party. Yvonne Sandals placed second in the presidential election and Eve McGinn led the party to massive parliamentary gains across the country. When Sandals was first elected leader, she was scrutinized because of her age. She pledged to resign before the 3709 elections. McGinn, the party’s deputy leader, was widely expected to run for the leadership but surprised analysts when she announced at she would not seek the position. McGinn was 49 years old at the time of the election and wanted to spend more time with her young son. She announced that she would seek reelection to Parliament but that she would remove herself from frontline politics. Despite their withdrawals, Sandals and McGinn still commanded a lot of respect from within the party and the two were nominated for the leadership during the presentation of the manifestos. Zachary Killebrew, the finance critic, was touted as a strong candidate but many pundits believed that this was his last opportunity to secure the leadership. James Milburn, a former deputy leader and current Health and Social Services spokesman, planned a political comeback by running for the leadership. Nanci Mears had previously served in the cabinet as the Health and Social Services minister but was now the Food and Agriculture spokesman. She hoped to secure her place in history by becoming the party’s first lesbian leader. Backbencher Anelay Chapman stood for the leadership in an attempt to give the backbenchers a greater voice in party affairs. Zillebrew was endorsed by Luke Crews and Eamon McAullife-Ennis. McGinn received the support of Party President Mary Hagan, Ministers Alicia Bowling and Jim Eves, and Turcotte. Mears was supported by Party Vice President Joyce Stahl, Foreign Affairs critic and former leader Graeme Heijns Storr, and Environment critic Deborah Pyatt. Milburn was endorsed by Defence Minister Gabrielle Atkinson. Sandals was backed by Internal Affairs Minister Rebecca Lennon. Chapman did not get any significant endorsements. Internal Affairs Minister Rebecca Lennon stood for the deputy leadership against Education and Culture spokesman Patrick Turcotte. Vera Daniels, Graeme Storr’s former Trade and Industry critic, also contested the position. Lennon had the support of Yvonne Sandals, Whip Patrick Urquhart, Hagan, Lennon, and Mears. Turcotte was supported by McGinn, Eves, and McAullife-Ennis. Daniels was championed by Joyce Stahl, Graeme Storr, Zachary Killebrew, and James Milburn. The results following the presentation of the manifestos yielded surprising results. Despite not contesting the election, Sandals and McGinn supporters were able to win 40%. As expected, Nanci Mears topped the ballot with just over a third of the vote. McGinn placed second and some speculated that had she come in first, she would have entered the contest. James Milburn placed third, winning 16%. Sandals came in fourth with 9%. Killebrew did worse than expected and won only 8%. Chapman failed to secure even 2% of the vote. Sandals, Killebrew, and Chapman were eliminated while McGinn chose not to contest the second ballot. There was a brief movement to get Killebrew placed on the ballot because had delegates not backed Sandals and McGinn, he likely would have won around 14% of the vote. The movement quickly fizzled out. He chose not to endorse either candidate but his supports moved strongly to Milburn. McGinn supporters did the same. Bowling and Turcotte became two of Milburn’s strongest supporters. Rebecca Lennon, who had previously supported Sandals, endorsed Mears. Despite the movement to Milburn, Mears still had the support of the establishment and was able to win 52-48. Rebecca Lennon was the early frontrunner for the deputy leadership and her manifesto was expected to win about 45% of the vote. Turcotte and Daniels were expected to tie at around 28%. However, Turcotte saw his support rise and Daniels ended her bid for the position, citing worse than expected results. Because the progressive faction saw Nanci Mears elected leader, Rebecca Lennon, often viewed as the more conservative candidate, was expected to win the deputy leadership. She secured the position by a 61-39 margin.